Accor Participating in HRS’ Green Stay Initiative

Accor has agreed to participate in HRS’ Green Stay Initiative, launched in March, making it the first global hotel company to do so, HRS announced Wednesday.

Under the partnership, Accor hotels will share their on-property sustainability enhancements with HRS, including performance metrics on energy—including carbon emissions—water and waste. HRS then uses a proprietary algorithm to generate a sustainability score that travel managers can consider when making hotel sourcing decisions. Clients also can turn on an icon in online booking displays to enable their travelers to see the preferred green hotels in their programs.

“Dozens of corporations have already indicated in their hotel [requests for proposals] that metrics on energy, water and waste are required for consideration,” said HRS CEO Tobias Ragge in a statement. “The need for automation to efficiently deliver such data from hotels to procurement leaders and travelers is vital in today’s corporate lodging landscape.”

HRS already has calculated Green Stay scores for some Accor properties and plans eventually to include “all brands in all countries,” according to an HRS spokesperson. As of mid-October, hotels in 62 countries are participating in Green Stay, according to HRS.

Donna M. Airoldi www.businesstravelnews.com